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An essay about the origine & virtues of gems : wherein are propos'd and historically illustrated some conjectures about the consistence of the matter of precious stones, and the subjects wherein their chiefest virtues reside

by: Boyle, Robert, 1627-1691

Publication date: 1672
Topics: Crystallography, Precious stones--Early works to 1800, Precious stones--Therapeutic use--Early works to 1800, Diamonds--Early works to 1800, Glass--Early works to 1800, Pearls--Early works to 1800, Fossils--Early works to 1800
Publisher: William Godbid
Collection: gialibrary; patron-library-collection
Language: English
Item Size: 330.4M

"This celebrated treatise [referred to as] 'the beginning of the modern development in knowledge of crystal structure,' really has little to do with gemstones except as they happened to conveniently provide crystals for Boyle's inquiries into the solid state of matter... One of the principal reasons for writing this work, according to Boyle, was to determine if the use of pulverized gemstones, still recommended as curative ingredients in medicines, had any basis in chemical fact..."--Gemology, by J. Sinkankas, entry no. 863.

Boyle's observations include the following: "that crystals grow from solution from very minute particles which attach themselves to the growing crystal in such a manner that they add bulk and create characteristic external planes", "that the best-formed crystals grow in cavities,...thaât cleavage is a definite property of certain species, such as diamond,...that inclusions in crystals may take the form of solids, fluids or negative crystals, and are caused by envelopement [sic] of the inclusions by the host crystal as it grew,...that rock crystal could not be any form of supercooled water because its specific gravity is 2-2/3x that of water..." --Gemology, by J. Sinkankas, entry no. 863.